The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
For automotive applications, fasteners are used to join trim or panel members to sections or metal body portions of the automobile. The requirements for these fasteners are that they be insertable into apertures of the automobile and meet requirements to both retain the component as well as provide a minimum pullout retention force such that the component is retained under given load conditions but can be removed without damaging the component. Common fastener designs include directly opposed flexible wings which deflect inwardly upon insertion of the fastener and expand by spring force to hold the fastener within an aperture such as a slot in the automobile.
A drawback of commonly used fasteners occurs for certain applications, including fasteners used to mount trim or instrument panels, or for trim components which cover air bags. In the first instance, it is common that access to the space behind the trim or instrument panel is desired, however removal of the entire trim piece or panel may be undesirable due to weight or realignment concerns. For trim member applications covering an air bag, deployment of the air bag often displaces the trim component, however, it is undesirable for the trim component to freely disassociate from the body portion of the automobile. To prevent disassociation, fasteners have been created having two-part assemblies, with one part connected to the vehicle body and the second part connected to the trim component or panel member. These fastener designs commonly include a tether which allows the trim or panel component to displace while preventing disassociation from the first part and therefore from the vehicle body. A drawback of these fastener designs is the tether only loosely retains the trim or panel member which can still result in realignment problems, or inadvertent disconnection of electrical connectors, or the like.